Abstract

We present a method of pumping dielectric (or non-polar) liquids. The pumping method relies on the electrohydrodynamicflow generated by field dependent electrical conductivity (Onsager effect). Adding a small amount of polar liquid increases the field-dependency of conductivity. Applying either dc or ac voltage produces a fast and regular flow around electrodes.Flow speed is proportional to cube of electric-field strength and inversely to applied frequency. The experimental results agreed well with numerical analysis based on our theoretical model.

Received 26 September 2011Accepted 13 November 2011Published online 30 November 2011

Acknowledgments:

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant No.R0A-2007-000-20098-0 funded by the Korea government (MEST) and No. 20090083510 through Multi-phenomena CFD Engineering Research Center.